Monday's provincial election did not dramatically reconfigure Montreal's electoral map, with only two seats on the Island of Montreal switching hands.

The Liberals kept traditional bastions such as Outremont, Verdun, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Saint-Laurent, while Québec Solidaire's Amir Khadir and Françoise David hung on to their seats in Mercier and Gouin, and the Parti Québécois kept its seats in Rosemont, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Pointes-aux-Trembles.

Québec Solidaire hoped to expand Montreal base

Québec Solidaire was looking to build on the two Montreal (and only) ridings that it represents in the National Assembly (Mercier – Khadir, and Gouin – David) and hoped to add two more Montreal seats in the ridings of Laurier-Dorion and Saint-Marie-Saint-Jacques.

Liberals take Crémazie, keep Verdun

The ridings of Crémazie and Verdun also promised tough fights between the Liberals and their PQ arch-rivals. The Liberals managed to retake Crémazie from Diane de Courcy, the PQ's minister for immigration and Quebec's French language charter. The riding went to Liberal candidate Marie Montpetit.

Meanwhile, the PQ's hopes of an upset win over the Liberals in Verdun came up short under star freshman candidate, the actor and broadcast personality Lorraine Pintal. Pintal is trailing Liberal candidate Jacques Daoust.

Lisée in Rosemont

Another Montreal riding to watch was Rosemont, held by PQ cabinet minister Jean-François Lisée. Lisée won Rosemont in 2012 with a whopping 43 per cent of the vote and has been one of the more vocal champions of the PQ's controversial secular charter. Lisée's opponents were hoping to turn dissatisfaction with the proposed charter into votes.

Hélène David wins in Outremont

Hélène David, sister of Québec Solidaire's David, won in the riding of Outremont.

David, who made her name as an author and academic at the Université de Montréal before entering politics, replaced Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard as the Liberal candidate in Outremont after Couillard opted to run in his home riding of Roberval.